Aaron Reardon facing second recall petition
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SEATTLE -- Embattled Snohomish County Executive Aaron Reardon avoided charges in a recent criminal investigation, but he's now facing a new effort to get him out of office.
A recall petition is now circling claiming Reardon misused county resources to advance his personal and political ambitions.
It's the second attempt to recall the executive, and while it's unclear how much support the effort will get, it does show more disapproval for a politician who's already taken a public beating in office.
Anne Block is an activist who says she refuses to stand aside when she sees a political injustice go unpunished. Block filed the recall petition to remove Reardon from office before his final term expires at the end of 2015.
"He's listing himself in an office staff meeting at the same time he's on the phone with a lobbyist," Block said of Reardon.
Reardon is a Democrat, but not even leaders of the Republican party think a recall is worth pursuing.
"It's more than time and money. It's is there a need?" said Bill Cooper of the Snohomish County Republican Party.
Block disagrees, and says Reardon improperly used county resources during his political campaign last year.
The three-term executive is also facing a civil probe by the state Public Disclosure Commission on similar grounds. But Prosecutors declined to file charges against the executive after a state patrol investigation into sex scandal allegations involving Tami Dutton, who claims Reardon took her on trips and to expensive dinners on the county's dime.
"Criminal charges weren't filed, and that doesn't mean he didn't do it. It just means there wasn't sufficient evidence to support criminal charges," Cooper said.
A judge will now review Block's petition, and if it's found to be proper she and her supporters will have six months to gather enough signatures to qualify it for the ballot.
"Even me as a Democrat, I have to stand up to my own party when I feel that there's been a wrong committed," Block said. "Mr. Reardon is not above the law."
In an effort to get past all the hurdles, a vote on the recall might come in February of next near.
Neither Reardon nor anyone from his office returned calls for comment on the story.
A recall petition is now circling claiming Reardon misused county resources to advance his personal and political ambitions.
It's the second attempt to recall the executive, and while it's unclear how much support the effort will get, it does show more disapproval for a politician who's already taken a public beating in office.
Anne Block is an activist who says she refuses to stand aside when she sees a political injustice go unpunished. Block filed the recall petition to remove Reardon from office before his final term expires at the end of 2015.
"He's listing himself in an office staff meeting at the same time he's on the phone with a lobbyist," Block said of Reardon.
Reardon is a Democrat, but not even leaders of the Republican party think a recall is worth pursuing.
"It's more than time and money. It's is there a need?" said Bill Cooper of the Snohomish County Republican Party.
Block disagrees, and says Reardon improperly used county resources during his political campaign last year.
The three-term executive is also facing a civil probe by the state Public Disclosure Commission on similar grounds. But Prosecutors declined to file charges against the executive after a state patrol investigation into sex scandal allegations involving Tami Dutton, who claims Reardon took her on trips and to expensive dinners on the county's dime.
"Criminal charges weren't filed, and that doesn't mean he didn't do it. It just means there wasn't sufficient evidence to support criminal charges," Cooper said.
A judge will now review Block's petition, and if it's found to be proper she and her supporters will have six months to gather enough signatures to qualify it for the ballot.
"Even me as a Democrat, I have to stand up to my own party when I feel that there's been a wrong committed," Block said. "Mr. Reardon is not above the law."
In an effort to get past all the hurdles, a vote on the recall might come in February of next near.
Neither Reardon nor anyone from his office returned calls for comment on the story.
